The present invention relates to a closure, securing mechanism, or lock for closing or locking a door, in particular a door of an appliance or device, and includes a second closure element that can be latched with an arresting structure of a first closure element, and that for unlatching purposes is rotatable relative to the first closure element, and also includes at least one lever support that is disposed so as to be movable relative to the second closure element, wherein the lever support is transferrable between a release position, in which as a consequence of a relative rotation the lever support cancels the latching on the arresting structure, and into a latching position in which, during a relative rotation, the latching on the arresting structure is maintained.
Such door closures are used for closing or locking many different types of equipment or appliances such as, for example, cooking devices, eating devices, refrigerators, cooling cabinets, etc., and are customarily composed of two closure elements, one of which is connected with the door panel of the appliance door, and the other of which is connected with the sash or frame of the appliance door or with the housing of the appliance.
A closure is known from EP 1 111 175 A1, according to which the closure element that is connected with the door panel is embodied as a resilient clip or bracket that can be latched on an arresting structure of a closure element that is secured to the housing and is embodied as a locking pin. When the doors close, the two closure elements are acted upon by a closure force via a rubber-elastic seal that is provided between the door panel and the door sash and that seals off the interior of the appliance. To release the latching, and hence for opening the door, the two closure elements are rotated relative to one another by means of an actuating handle. Although such closures have in the past proven themselves, they generally, however, do not permit control of access by means of which in certain conditions, for example during an automatically running cleaning process taking place in the interior of the appliance, the closure could be blocked from being released, so that in such situations the door could not be opened.
DE 10 2009 016 812 A1 discloses a similar door closure having access control. In order in certain situations to prevent opening of the door, a sleeve-like slotted piece is rotatably disposed on the pin-shaped closure element. In the region of the arresting structure, the slotted piece is provided with a radially outwardly directed, eccentric surface, so that by rotating the slotted piece the undercut formed by the arresting structure can if necessary be enlarged for the purpose of access control. After rotation of the slotted piece has been completed, a release of the bracket-like closure element, even upon actuation of the handle, is no longer possible due to the undercut that extends over a greater angular range. However, a drawback of this type of access control is that it requires a relatively complicated structural configuration. In addition, the surface of the slotted piece is disposed in the region of the arresting structure between the two closure elements that, when the door is closed, are tensioned relative to one another via a rubber-elastic door seal. With every rotational movement of the slotted piece, it is therefore necessary to overcome the corresponding closing force, for which reason relatively strong drive means must be utilized for rotating the slotted piece.
A further closure having access control is known from DE 10 2009 014 233 A1, where, for purposes of access control, a lever support is provided that is movable back and forth between a release position and a locking position. In normal operation, the lever support is in the release position, in which as a result of a relative rotation of the two closure elements, the lever support levers the closure element, which is embodied as a resilient bracket, against the force of a spring and out of the arresting structure of the other closure element. In this manner, the latching or locking is released by actuating the actuation handle disposed on the door handle, and the appliance door can be opened. For purposes of access control, the lever support can be moved out of the release position into a locking position in which it does not lever the resilient bracket out of the arresting structure, even upon actuation of the actuating handle. The lever support is integrally formed on the closure pin, which is fixed to the housing, in the manner of a radial widened portion. To move the lever support, the closure pin is rotatably mounted on the housing of the appliance via a drive provided for that purpose. If access to the interior of the appliance is now to be blocked due to a cleaning process taking place therein, by means of the drive the closure pin, and therewith the lever support, are moved relative to the resilient bracket into a position in which the resilient bracket can no longer be levered out of the arresting structure by means of actuation of the actuation handle.
This closure also has the drawback that for levering out the resilient closure element the lever support is integrally disposed on the closure element that is fixed to the housing, so that for the movement of the lever support, the first closure element must be moved counter to the closing force that is present between the two closure elements. Also with this closure it is therefore necessary to have a relatively strong drive for rotating the pin-shaped closure element.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a structurally straightforward closure having access control, with which it is also possible to utilize low-power drives.